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BLUELINES: Orientation Camp

“You’re nervous at first, but once you get out there you can’t be afraid.”
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Free agent Cameron Rannie takes a shot on Battalion 2016 draft pick Christian Purboo during action on Saturday. Photo by Tom Martineau.

Is anything more pleasurable to the mind than unsullied paper?

There is no evidence to suggest that Frank Lloyd Wright, the great American architect, ever watched a hockey game, but had he, he might have been as moved by an unsullied sheet of ice as he was by his unsullied sheet of paper.

To be sure, upon each there was a story waiting to be told, as was the case on the weekend when a nervous group of North Bay Battalion prospects stepped onto the unsullied ice at Memorial Gardens for their Saturday scrimmage, part of the two-day orientation camp that included baseline fitness testing.

A hundred spectators assembled to watch, spellbound and amazed at the skill and grace of the athletes, hockey dads grimacing and muttering, clenching and leaning, from one side to another, in concert with the action, while hockey moms, suspended in the moment, with their hands covering their mouths at each collision, eyes wide with a level of concern that only a mother could know.

Could we have been watching the first powerful strides of a future NHL Hall of Famer circling around back of the net, carving the ice beneath his sharpened blades, feeling the cool wind on his face, attempting to banish the butterflies to some distant place, easing his grip just so, for had he not been squeezing his stick a little harder than he ought to?

Or did we witness a momentary flicker of fear, the imperceptible wobble of a skate blade, a fleeting loss of balance in a boy, a late round pick from a small town, mesmerized by an inside, outside move that he had defended so many times before, back home, but not against players this talented, players who were bigger, stronger and faster, such as first round draft pick Adam McMaster, who roared past like a freight train, and didn’t look back?

Left winger Connor Gillanders, North Bay’s 12th round pick from last year’s Priority Selection, came into the camp expecting some nerves at the outset.

“You’re nervous at first,” he said, “but once you get out there you can’t be afraid.”

Gillanders missed Sunday morning’s scrimmage after coming out on the bruised end of a knee on thigh collision with Brad Chenier, a rugged forward that has nine OHL games with the Battalion under his belt.  Though given ample reason to be disappointed with his fate, the former Markham Waxer remained upbeat, focusing not on his injury and the missed opportunity, but rather on soaking up the Orientation Camp experience, and recognizing what he has to do to make the jump to the next level.

Gillanders was not alone in marveling at the obvious talent of the Battalion’s first-round selection Adam McMaster, the former Niagara Falls North Star, a dynamic presence, who demonstrated elite speed, drawing comparisons around the arena, albeit premature ones, to London Knights’ star Mitch Marner. 

McMaster spoke courteously and demonstrated a level of comfort in addressing the media that is not often seen with players his age.  Undoubtedly the fastest skater on the ice, McMaster alluded that a higher gear might be possible, perhaps saving it for preseason camp.

“I was hurt right after Gold Cup, I had a lower back injury and I’ve just gotten that sorted out Thursday,” he explained.  “So I haven’t really trained, I was just coming in a pushing myself to my limit.”

When asked if he was pleased with his performance over the two days, McMaster’s self-assessment was refreshingly modest.

“I wouldn’t say pleased,” he offered, “I was okay with it.  Obviously in the weight room I need to get a bit stronger, and I noticed that really early.  But on the ice I still have to improve and hopefully make that jump and play with the big boys next year.”

Stan Butler, the club’s director of hockey operations, the prime architect of the Orientation Camp with over 20 such camps under his belt, was clear on his objective.

“The purpose of these camp remains the same,” he said.  “We’re trying to orient the players to our program, to our city, and to give parents and players some familiarity.  We want to get a starting point for testing on fitness and then (trainer) James Borelli gives them a program.”

As the players prepared to leave North Bay, returning to the various corners of the province from which they hail, the coach was asked what he wanted his prospects to work on over the summer.

“Probably not skating as much as a lot of them will,” he recommended. “If they skate a little bit, once a week is probably enough.  I think it’s important for them to get in the weight room and work on getting stronger.  They also need to spend time on the track.  What I can see from some of the results is that players need to learn that we’re not training for marathons, but that athletes who are well-conditioned and have good stamina off the ice usually do better on the ice as well.”